When a country receives large numbers of people from very different cultural backgrounds, some may feel less pressure to assimilate into the society around them. That is the concern raised by Virginia commentator Nick Freitas and British commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, who say they have watched this shift unfold in Western countries.
Freitas says he repeatedly heard growing up that America was “a nation of immigrants,” including in educational settings. The phrase, he argues, contains some truth, but leaves out important context: from 1607 to 1776, the United States was made up of English colonies, and much of the early immigration came from the British Isles.
He also notes that most of those early immigrants were Protestant. In his view, assimilation was easier because people had a shared understanding of the society they were joining and why they had come.
Freitas says the country’s immigration patterns changed significantly over roughly the past 60 years, with people arriving from cultures he describes as very different from America’s. He argues that the public was then expected to accept that this diversity had always defined the country. Those who questioned that idea, he says, could be labeled racist, xenophobic, or bigoted.
Heydel-Mankoo says Britain has faced a similar challenge. He believes the country has spent too much time condemning its own history and should more confidently promote the culture that unites its people.
He is also pessimistic about the prospects for assimilation in the United Kingdom. In his view, large communities from cultures he considers incompatible have become established enough to function largely apart from wider society, with residents having little day-to-day contact with others.
